Categories: La Vie VelominatusThe HardmenThe Rides

Short But Sweet

If you have to choose, choose quality over quantity

My lungs feel my favorite way my lungs can feel. Every breath I take tells me the whereabouts of each alveolus. They feel raw, like they were scraped clean and opened up anew after a period of dormancy. Every breath tells me their exact shape and depth, where my lungs end and where my diaphragm begins. I feel high, as though my freshly cleaned lungs are letting too much oxygen into the system and it’s not quite sure what to do with it other than to make everything feel more Awesome.

Cycling is, unequivocally, without question, a drug.

At my back lies a winter of frustration; my training has been behind all year with me neither having nor making the time to get the hours in that I am used to. I’ve never been a thoroughbred, but this winter I haven’t even been a donkey. I’ve been a mule. It feels good to say it out loud, actually.

“Hi, my name is Frank. I’m a mule.”

“Hi, Frank.”

I’ve always favored the 2 hour ride over one, three hours over two, four over three. The best rides are sun-up to sun-down endeavors that have me crawling into the kitchen or pub for a recovery session. On one notable occasion I got off my bike and sat at the side of the road in the pouring rain, just to contemplate how I might manage to ride up the final steep ramp to get back home. (Spoiler alert: I finally arrived at the conclusion to climb aboard my bike and pedal up the hill, something that seems a lot more obvious in hindsight than it did at the time.)

I’ve become more opportunistic in my training since arriving at some basic condition through getting my head kicked in for nine days at Keepers Tour. Since then, I cherish those small windows in my schedule that allow for a quick ride and jump at the opportunity, even if it’s just for an hour. The shorter the ride, the harder the ride. No mercy. Stop lights? Interval to the next one, like some idiot Cycleway Hero. Climb? Hit it until the lights go out. False flat into the wind? 53×11 and out of the saddle until the legs turn into Jell-O.

Today’s ride was 90 minutes. Full gas, start to finish; I was a Cat 5 on Race Day, born again. If I was stopped at a light, it was a double-down sprint to make up for lost time like a dog let off its leash trying to catch up to where it would have been if it had been loose the whole time. Everything my mind asked for, my body gave. Everything my body needed, The V provided. Today was a reminder that if quantity and quality are on offer, take them both. But if you have to pick one, quality will go a long way to make up for quantity. I’d rather ride a little every day than not ride every day. And a short ride, done right, can put you in the box just the same.

In the immortal words of The Prophet, “Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.”

Vive la Vie Velominatus.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

frank says:

May 20 2015 at 8:48 am

@Oli

@frank

@unversio

One of the reasons I’m resisting going to 11spd is the levers are so long which makes you mount them very high if you align them to the bottom of the bars like Roger DeVlaemink did.

@TommyTubolare

In all seriousness, having the hoods lower does little more just put pressure on the wrists. While the lead photo looks more extreme (a better angle below) having the hoods at such an angle that it feels very neutral is, in my opinion, much more effective and does fuck all to screw up the handling; it improves it, if anything.

So glad we’re talking about this stuff and not the drivel in the article!

The ‘bars and levers look totally fine to me, but has anyone ever told you that your saddle is way too high?

HA! I am shocked the conversation didn't diverge into a bunch of first-timers pointing that out.
TommyTubolare says:

May 20 2015 at 9:48 am

@unversio

Yes, very smart move, definitely.

Ever since 3T relaunched the brand and went online in 2007 IIRC that 'α' changed from 3 to 5 and then to 8 and now it's 10. That includes their manuals they used to send with Rotundos to the store. Their 120 mm stems also measure 130 as effective reach and seatposts with setback 25 mm also have setback closer to 35 mm. They also spell length on some of their stems as lenght, so yes definitely just go for what they are saying and it is printed without any checking or measuring. They are definitely always right. Always trust 3T, no doubt.
TommyTubolare says:

May 20 2015 at 9:59 am

@frank

Yes of course I did, but you didn't, did you?

Every time there's a rule vs. keeper conversation here sense of humor suddenly takes priority and becomes very important. Tell you what, I know plenty of people with great sense of humor who still have hairy legs and use saddlebags, not like I have personally something against it, people can do what they like, not hating just saying.

Good riding @frank.
unversio says:

May 20 2015 at 10:24 am

@TommyTubolare

@unversio

Yes, very smart move, definitely.

Ever since 3T relaunched the brand and went online in 2007 IIRC that ‘α’ changed from 3 to 5 and then to 8 and now it’s 10. That includes their manuals they used to send with Rotundos to the store. Their 120 mm stems also measure 130 as effective reach and seatposts with setback 25 mm also have setback closer to 35 mm. They also spell length on some of their stems as lenght, so yes definitely just go for what they are saying and it is printed without any checking or measuring. They are definitely always right. Always trust 3T, no doubt.

3T are good at adding the extra -- for sure. We all need a typo every now and them. I presume that articles by Frank have strategic typos just to keep his keen edge going.

In all honesty, that 3T misspelling of lenhtg does bother me immensely.
unversio says:

May 20 2015 at 10:26 am

Now I will pretend that this thread never existed.
Ron says:

May 20 2015 at 11:39 am

I have been known to swap cages until I find ones that hold:

a) H20 bidons for when I'm riding

b) tall beers for when I'm riding home.

VMH: "More new cages? Didn't you just get some?"

"Yes, but they didn't work."

VMH: "How could they not work? They just hold your bottle."
MangoDave says:

May 20 2015 at 12:36 pm

@Ron

After years of hoping, the VMH finally said last week, “I’d like to do some road cycling with you.” Wow! In the past I bugged her to come out, then let it go. What a lovely surprise! Country roads, an hour of spinning along, a beautiful Sunday morning. She gets plenty of exercise from work and walking the dogs, but doesn’t do much plain ol’ exercise for fun or fitness. Much to my surprise, she called me yesterday morning and said on the walk with the dogs, she decided to do some jogging! I had her hooked! I’ve long told her once you get all that oxygen in ya, you are hooked. YEP, it’s a drug to feel the rush in your lungs.

So, you took your VMH for a road ride and she decided to take up jogging? I think you did something wrong there.

I can sympathize, though. I wish I could get my VMH out on the bike more. She jogs and will ride with me to the pub or a restaurant, but that's it.
Ken Ho says:

May 20 2015 at 1:14 pm

@frank

Probably. I've put new bars on since then, and probably still have the cams open. MIght take another pic later for comparison purposes. The brakes still seem to work, so I never remember to close them after wheel changes.

As for your brifter position, it seems to work for you, though I agree with Tommy that GSOH seems to suddenly come to the fore whenever it suits in a dispute. The sweep on your bars is old school, and the brifter design is modern. If anything, your aesthetic crime lies on trying to combine the two.
DeKerr says:

May 20 2015 at 2:02 pm

@TommyTubolare

@frank

Yes of course I did, but you didn’t, did you?

Every time there’s a rule vs. keeper conversation here sense of humor suddenly takes priority and becomes very important. Tell you what, I know plenty of people with great sense of humor who still have hairy legs and use saddlebags, not like I have personally something against it, people can do what they like, not hating just saying.

Good riding @frank.

Oh FFS... ToTu, what's next? "I'm rubber, you're glue..."

A tour of the site (which is now friggin' enormous) will reveal that most of the main posters, not just the Keepers, will remind everyone and anyone about Rule #43 if the circumstances require. You'll see @Gianni flirting with all kinds of heresy and @Brent extolling the virtues of getting your bike dirty. If you're trying to play "gotcha" with a Keeper... you know, one of the guys who are giving you the chance to win a $3000 bike or a $1400 set of wheels just for showing up and playing along... FOR FREE!! you'll find more than just @frank letting you know you're not doing your time in the wind.

And the people you know, the ones with the hairy legs, bulging EPMS, and a sense of humor... they're probably having a great time on a randonneur site extolling the virtues of triple chainrings and waterproof panniers. Here we will continue to extol the virtues of smooth legs, proper jersey pocket packing, and burning lungs.
frank says:

May 20 2015 at 2:24 pm

@TommyTubolare

@frank

Yes of course I did, but you didn’t, did you?

Every time there’s a rule vs. keeper conversation here sense of humor suddenly takes priority and becomes very important. Tell you what, I know plenty of people with great sense of humor who still have hairy legs and use saddlebags, not like I have personally something against it, people can do what they like, not hating just saying.

Good riding @frank.

Not trying to be obtuse, but I literally don't know what you're talking about or trying to say.